With solid expertise built over more than three decades of practice and spanning six states, Stephanie's background includes being a seasoned clinician, consultant, educator (including full-time professor), presenter, author, researcher, program coordinator, consumer scientist (including recipe developer), advocate, counselor, coach, and mentor.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to offer a blog that encourages you to expand your sensory enjoyment of tasty food, rich in vital nutrients, to help you maximize your health and enjoy a flavorful life.
See it, Smell it, Taste it!

Welcome

Welcome to Sensory Nutrition! Please come in and join Stephanie and the rest of the staff here.

The doors at Sensory Nutrition are usually open 24/7, so come in and visit with us when YOUR schedule allows. We would love to share some of our secrets for nutritious and delicious meals you can make as part of your busy 21st century lifestyle.

Whether cooking for one or for many, our motto is: Get more out of life and enjoy life more.

In Part 1 of 3 of this blog series we mentioned a chance encounter in a supermarket with a man who had reached the produce section and wanted to buy more salad vegetables, but was stymied once he was actually in the store at the point of purchase.

He almost walked away without any salad ingredients because he was still going through the stages of making an actual behavior change.

All he needed was a little encouragement, information & support in his decision making once he was right there in the store. Timing can make such a huge difference in life!

He’d been thinking about eating more vegetables as one of his New Year’s Resolutions for 2013, but hadn’t yet gone through all of the stages of readiness to really be fully prepared to follow through on such behavior change.

We’ll start off this blog post with a true story about a chance encounter with someone in the supermarket who appeared to be ready to make behavior change just this week.

While shopping on the day before New Year’s Eve, a fellow shopper was staring at various salad making packages in the produce section.

He seemed to be trying to decide if he should get a package and if so, which one to get.

He had put a package with added seasoning packets into his cart, then just as our cart was reaching that section, turned right around and put the package back onto the produce cooler shelf. His hands were then moving around between two other packages and he was hesitating before he drew them back. His body language indicated it was likely he was about to leave the produce area with no selection made.

Noticing our cart, he offered to get out of the way, saying he knew he should be eating more vegetables and was thinking of getting some salad greens, but he really was unsure of what to get. “I know I should be eating more vegetables and I really want to, but I’m not much of a cook” he said.

This was a split second opportunity to support him in what he really wanted to do, before he wheeled his cart away due to self doubt in his own food shopping & preparation skills and missed the chance to turn his intent into action. Fortunately he had no dietary restrictions to consider.

Asking him if he preferred any type of salad green(s) over others, it turned out he did prefer the mixed baby greens. Next we determined if he had any seasonings already at home and he remembered he had some Italian Seasoning blend he liked–so we discussed quickly how he could sprinkle that on a plate of mixed baby greens.

Then it was time to determine if he liked his salad with anything else in it or on it. Once it was clearer what he enjoyed, it was easy to discuss how to simply add some of those other raw vegetable items he liked that were right there ready-to-use, and then working with some other preferences he expressed, review options for a touch of a more healthful salad dressing with taste and flavor elements he liked to top it all off.

This discussion in total literally took just about a minute, but in that time he was able to move into preparation for behavior change and then next hopefully take action and actually change his behavior since he left the produce section with ingredients in his cart and a big smile on his face and said “thanks” for the help.

He appeared ready to make behavior change–he just needed to see how he could successfully do it. He verbalized a stumbling block to making change was his doubt of his own food shopping & preparation skills. He just needed a little help when shopping in order to feel confident about making fresh produce choices in the supermarket.

Coping With New Year’s Resolutions That Involve Behavior Change

Yes, it’s that time of year again when people begin the annual cycle of making New Year’s Resolutions that might involve behavior change.

It happens every new year. Just as life is a cycle, so is each year. Sometimes failed attempts at previous New Year’s Resolutions are “recycled” and sometimes new resolutions that involve behavior change are contemplated.

Many people have probably been going through thinking about making some 2013 New Year’s Resolutions, just as this man stated his desire to start eating more vegetables in the new year. Some might even be considering exactly how they might implement such behavior change.

The man in the supermarket went shopping without a grocery list, so he hadn’t taken all the steps necessary to help himself once he got to the supermarket to shop more confidently and purchase the items that would allow him to make the behavior change to eat more vegetables.

Others may not yet have fully crystallized their thoughts on the topic. They may not realize what is actually involved in making serious behavior change or they may not yet be convinced they need to make any serious behavior change.

(Image of “A Year of Being Well” property of & courtesy of the Michael and Susan Bell Foundation and shown here for illustrative purposes only).

Many New Year’s Resolutions have to do with behavior change involving food consumption +/or fitness. Keep in mind that for an approach to work long term, you will probably have to adopt some new behaviors.

If you seek professional advice and assistance, just what should you expect to receive?

In Part 1 of 2 of our series on baking with yeast, we mentioned a bit about the history of baker’s yeast and some details concerning fresh yeast and active dry yeast.

In this Part 2 of 2 of our baking with yeast series, we’ll discuss how to “proof” or “bloom” active dry yeast prior to incorporating it into recipes, as well as the various offerings under the category of instant dry yeast and some pointers when it comes to using it. Also feel free to check out our accompanying picture-based recipe blog post on how to make G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls.

Are you a seasoned home baker who doesn’t hesitate to work with yeast dough, or does the thought of working with baker’s yeast make you nervous?

Have you ever wished you knew more about yeast baking so that you would always be successful in working with any form of baker’s yeast sold to consumers? Have you ever wished you could get some yeast risings to go a bit faster to save some time making a recipe from start to finish? Have you ever wondered about the differences between fresh yeast, active dry yeast, and instant dry yeast?

We’d love to share some background & pointers when it comes to baking with yeast to reinforce your confidence in working with it.

In this Part 1 of 2 of our series on baking with yeast we’ll mention some background about baker’s yeast and some details about fresh yeast and active dry yeast.

Then in Part 2 of 2 of our baking with yeast series, we’ll discuss how to “proof” or “bloom” active dry yeast prior to incorporating it into recipes, as well as some of the various offerings under the category of instant dry yeast.

Why not grab a cup of fragrant not-too-hot tea and we’ll wrap up this blog series on Christmas tea and how it can contribute to helping you and yours to stay healthier during the holidays.

We’ve already mentioned in Part 1 of this series how tea can contribute valuable flavonoids to your diet, and then in Part 2 of this series shared some thoughts concerning brewing tea and its caffeine content as well.

Now we’d like to share some other potential health benefits of drinking a not-too-hot cup of freshly steeped tea and mention just some of the supermarket accessible brands of holiday tea offerings.

Did you know that tea you brew (in either loose form or from a tea bag) can help you stay hydrated year round, may contribute to your oral and bone health, potentially help you age better, and possibly even help you lose a little excess weight?

It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and inadvertently forget about setting aside time to help keep yourself healthier during the holidays.

Sometimes you need to just stop, catch your breath, and maybe even sit down and treat yourself to a wonderfully aromatic warm cup of tea!

It’s important to keep up your antioxidant intake during the winter months and as we noted in Part 1 of 3 of this blog series, especially green and/or black tea made from the tea leaves of the Camellia senesis plant can be an excellent source of important flavonoids.

In Part 1 of this 3 part series we’ll review a little background on tea and tea events, and mention some potential health benefits from its flavonoid content.

In Part 2 of this 3 part series we’ll discuss how to potentially obtain the most flavonoid content by how you steep your tea and some information about caffeine and tea.

In Part 3 of 3 in this series we’ll mention about some other potential health benefits & concerns surrounding tea consumption. We’ll mention tea consumption’s possible impact on hydration level, how it may contribute to better oral and bone health, how it may help with more graceful aging, and even how it might play a role in helping someone to lose a little excess weight.

CeliacNow Site Launched

Registered Dietitian (RD), Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN noted in an email announcing it to fellow RDs that the primary mission of the site is to “help those who do not have access to celiac centers or experienced clinicians. It is written by celiac experts in nutrition and edited by celiac gastroenterologists and expert celiac dietitians.”

The site offers an email signup option if anyone is interested in “article updates, research opportunities, and new resources” noted Melinda.

As of the date of this blog post, the main content populated thus far deals with nutritional management of celiac disease, however, Melinda anticipates that a section with medical content will be forthcoming in early 2013.

FODMAPs Update

Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), as well as other Gastrointestinal (GI) Disorders can be very frustrating for both consumers and their health care providers alike. So much of our body’s immune system is inextricably linked to the proper functioning of our GI tract that gut health is of paramount importance for all of us.

At the cutting edge of research into this arena is the Eastern Health Clinical School (EHCS), Monash University, Australia, which has been looking into the dietary approach of focusing on the role of FODMAPs for quite some time now.

A FODMAPs dietary approach protocol might be initiated if it is suspected that any of certain specific forms of carbohydrates (lactose, fructose, fructans, sugar alcohols, and galactans) might be implicated in what are often considered IBS related symptoms.

If after eliminating the sources of those carbohydrates (thus the FODMAP elimination dietary approach) for 1 – 2 weeks symptoms resolve, then one-by-one the carbohydrates are added back into the dietary intake as challenge foods and follow- up symptoms are then tracked.

Only those carbohydrate sources that are well tolerated will then be included on the long term dietary maintenance plan.

The focus at the EHCS is on bowel physiology, Crohn’s disease, chronic gastrointestinal diseases, dietary intake, gastroenterology, and IBD research.

Sue Shepherd, PhD pioneered the FODMAPs dietary approach and is affiliated with Monash University where she completed her doctoral work. Dr. Shepherd has published a number of cookbooks and runs a bustling nutrition practice called Shepherd Works in Australia employing a staff of dietitians there.

GLUTEN

A summer issue of the Journal published by the Academy one of us belongs to had an interesting article on a new type of gluten-free pasta. The article title is: Green Banana Pasta: An Alternative for Gluten-Free Diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics – July 2012 (Vol. 112, Issue 7, Pages 1068-1072, DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2012.04.002).

The gluten-free flour pasta product is made from green banana flour, egg whites, water, and edible food source gum. Some people actually found the gluten-free pasta product more acceptable than pasta made from whole wheat flour.

As a matter of fact, some people felt there was no significant difference in either the appearance, aroma, flavor or overall quality of the green banana flour based pasta product as compared to the whole wheat pasta. Inclusion of egg whites and edible gum in the green banana flour based pasta product actually promoted elasticity, firmness, moisture content, and uniformity in the green banana flour based pasta, which made it less sticky than most typical gluten-free pastas are.

Interestingly, the green banana based pasta includes a high amount of what are called “resistant starches” (meaning they are resistant to digestion by humans). Resistant starches typically help to better control glycemic indexes of food items they are found in, and may have positive effects on intestinal actions such as reducing resorption of cholesterol in the gut, may decrease fermentation of starch in the gut by intestinal bacteria (which would result in less gas production in the gut), and might improve intestinal regularity of movement.

DIABETES

“The Big Blue Test encourages people with diabetes to test their blood sugar, exercise for 14-20 minutes, test again and share their experience on BigBlueTest.org… For every test, people with diabetes in need receive life-saving supplies through Big Blue Test grants that are awarded to humanitarian diabetes charities in the US and around the world, made possible thanks to the program sponsor…Each entry = a $5 donation from Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® diabetes products and services up to a total of $100,000.”

Exercise helps people with diabetes to lower elevated blood glucose levels. Persons with diabetes should learn about how much certain exercises of particular intensity & specific duration help them to better control their blood glucose levels. Lowering elevated blood glucose levels can help to lessen complications from diabetes in the lives of persons of all ages who are living with diabetes.

Again, those four simple steps are:

Test

Get Active

Test Again

Share the results to encourage others to exercise, too!

Help others while possibly helping yourself or helping someone you know–spread the word:

2013 WOMEN’S HEART HEALTH NATIONAL WEAR RED DAY

Women’s Heart Health: Women Putting Women’s Health First for a Change, which raises the question”Are You a Priority in Your Own Life?”

This February 2013 accept the challenge of National Wear Red Day and wear red for women’s heart health! Make yourself a top priority in your own life.

According to a couple of different sources–two women who have survived life threatening cardiac emergencies–Carolyn Thomas of My Heart Sisters blog site and Kathy Kastan (who has been a President of WomenHeart, The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease in her book From the Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Living Well with Heart Disease, published in 2007, it is reported that nationally known cardiologist, Sharonne N. Hayes M.D., Founder of the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic, tells women who attend the WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium for Women with Heart Disease about a study she is aware of addressing the priorities women have mentioned having as the latest millennium was dawning.

Back in the year 2000, it is reported that in a study underwritten by Proctor and Gamble and conducted by the Mayo Clinic (P&G 2000 Health Archetype Study) “Hierarchy of Female Concerns” identified that typically, the majority of women put everyone else’s health concerns above their own, in the following descending order of the top 6 responses given to the question asked of the women:

“What is most important to you?”

The top 6 responses of the women surveyed in descending order were reported as:

children

home

work/career

pets

spouses

self

Isn’t it time that maybe women started putting themselves first on that list? Can’t we possibly take better care of those we love if we take care of ourselves first and foremost?

Check out Kathy Kastan’s book (one of us actually read it while recently on vacation) or Carolyn Thomas’ blog, then explore ways you can get involved in raising heart health awareness.

Consider participating in this year’s American Heart Association National Wear Red Day and promote women’s heart health awareness among your family, friends and neighbors in your community and beyond. You can even sign up to spearhead support of National Wear Red Day at an area school, workplace, community center, etc.

There have been many kinds of storms including hurricanes, tornadoes, nor’easters & more over the years & such storm activity will continue in the future. One can’t stress enough how important it is to have an emergency plan of preparedness that includes a checklist for supplies & be ready at a moment’s notice to actually implement any such plan.

Dietitians who operate feeding centers have to be prepared to serve thousands of meals, even if there is no power available and limited water supplies.

We have personally experienced 11 days without power after a microburst storm hit our area back in 1998 around Labor Day that year. Farther north of us earlier that same year many people experienced microburst storm activity to a much greater extent with freezing rain/ice. Just two years prior that area had experienced similar microburst winter ice storm activity and been without power for at least 17 days (and in many instances for several weeks) during the height of freezing cold winter.

Many people have experienced much worse storm damage and much longer periods without power, so know that being prepared really is essential.

(Image of potential disasters striking from 1993 Federal Emergency Management Agency aka FEMA materials developed in conjunction with the American Red Cross)

Disaster preparedness includes much more than just having adequate water and food supplies.

This two-part blog series is a compilation of some advisements put out by various emergency preparedness agencies and other sources to encourage readers to implement any emergency planning should you be in the path of any storm system at any given time.